For anyone who has been affected or knows someone who is affected by cancer and sickness then they know how painful the process of chemotherapy can be. The pain does not end after the chemotherapy treatments; the side affects can also alter a person’s body long after the chemotherapy has ended. Side effects from chemotherapy may include, hair loss, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as weakening the internal organs forever.
That is why a seventeen year old cancer patient in Connecticut, has been burdened with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a disease that affects the lymph nodes found in the spleen, liver, bone marrow, and other parts of the body. The patient who’s name has yet to be revealed goes by Cassandra C, and her family is going to court after they refused to under go the process of chemotherapy.
Cassandra is being taken care of by Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families, also known as the DCF, who decided that it was in Cassandra’s best interest that she would be monitored by the organization. After attending two sessions of chemotherapy, Cassandra decided to run away from the home she had been staying at.
Cassandra’s mother fully supports her daughter’s decision to not want the chemotherapy and she explained in a video posted to Hartford Courants website that, “She knows the long-term effects of having chemo, what it does to your organs, what it does to your body. She may not be able to have children after this because it affects everything in your body. It not only kills cancer, it kills everything in your body.”
The DCF has brought the family to court to order that Cassandra must legally continue with her treatment. Cassandra’s family feels that their Constitutional Rights are being violated because they are not able to choose what is best for them.
Although the DCF believe they are doing the right thing by trying to force the chemotherapy upon Cassandra because they feel it will help save her life, the decision should ultimately belong to Cassandra and her family.
Photo By: Alamy
